In Brief

Investigators trawling through records at Hammersmith Hospitals trust's breast-screening service have recruited health authorities to track down patients who have still not been contacted about their results.An inquiry was launched earlier this year following an external audit of over 100,000 files where at least 11 recall errors were uncovered.A Commission for Health Improvement report into the service is expected to be published this autumn.

The Commission for Health Improvement is to stop investigations into health authorities until autumn 2002 while the new strategic HAs take shape.CHI will also examine services provided by ambulance trusts, primary care groups and NHS Direct next year.

A pilot scheme to assess and treat people with dangerous and severe personality disorders has been set up at Broadmoor Hospital, providing 70 places in a new unit.Three other DSPD pilots are already underway at Rampton Hospital and Whitemoor and Frankland prisons, providing 300 places.

A new guide to maternity services has revealed huge variations in staffing levels, as well as the kind of treatment women receive.The Good Birth Guide, published by Dr Foster, reveals that the number of births per midwife ranges from 15 at Royal Oldham Hospital to 52 at Northwick Park Hospital, with 56 per cent of women at the Royal Surrey Hospital having an epidural, compared with 12 per cent at North Middlesex.

Dr Richard Taylor, the Wyre Forest MP elected on a Kidderminster Hospital Health Concern ticket in the biggest upset of the general election, has become a member of the Commons health select committee.He is joined by veteran Labour committee chair David Hinchliffe, Labour MPs John Austin, Andy Burnham, Jim Dowd, Julia Drown, Siobhain McDonagh and Dr Doug Naysmith, the Conservative Party's David Amess and Simon Burns, and Liberal Democrat Sandra Gidley.

Financial penalties are being lifted from high-profile standards including cancer and elective waiting times, so far without attracting much attention. How is this happening? And will it work, asks Rob Findlay